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Friday, February 25, 2011

Santouka Ramen - Ramen Review

NICI Rob Raccoon present to you - Santouka Ramen review. As you probably know, we love Japanese ramen and we have tried a lot of famous ramen shops in Singapore before we started this blog. Santouka Ramen is the only noodle joint that we keep coming back in all these years. Direct translation of the name Santouka = "Mountain Head Fire", we know that was totally unnecessary so let's head on with the pictures!

This is half a plate of Tokusen Toroniku (specially selected pork cheeks) given to us free due to the promotion they are having. We will explain more about this heavenly delicacy in the later part.

As usual, we ordered a Tamago (Egg) to go with our ramen. To be honest the egg yolk is still a little overcooked, at least not up to our standard. We will cook our own and write up a recipe on it one day!

Waiting for the main dish to come..

Our Tokusen Toroniku Shio Ramen has arrived! This is Santouka's signature ramen. You are supposed to soak the whole plate of meat, black fungus, bamboo shoots and leeks into the soup together with the noodles. The Tokusen Toroniku meat is quite salty but some of the taste will seep into the Tonkotsu (Pork Bone Broth) giving the soup some extra flavour. And the leeks! They are so important, we love leeks!

The red plum I believe is for you to clear the taste in your mouth. Gives you a refreshing feel which works like a lemon or lime in case you get too tired of the strong flavored noodle.

Rob Raccoon looks eagerly at the mouthwatering bowl Shio Ramen. But wait, we have to take more pictures before we start digging in!

The Tokusen Toroniku - Specially selected pork meat is very unique as there is only probably less than 200 grams of this "pork cheek" meat found on each pig. Each piece of meat has their equal share of fats, so when you bite into it, there is a gelatinous feel which is similar to a well cooked braised pork knuckles.

This Tonkotsu (pork bone broth) is why Santouka is our favorite ramen joint in Singapore. The broth is rich, creamy and full of flavor, sublime is the only word I could utter. Santouka claims that the secret is having pork bone simmered over a long period of time and then adding vegetables, dried fish and kelp. We did mention in another post that Ippudo's akamaru broth is a close second but every time we go back to Santouka Ramen, it's greatness overwhelms our taste bud so much it makes every other ramen broth blast into oblivion.

The ramen noodle itself is not the best we have tasted though. We'd prefer it to be more springy like the one we had at Miharu, but this is a shortcoming that can be overlooked for the heavenly broth and meat.

Look at this piece of treasure we have found! Show you the other side below..

50% fats, 50% meat..the best ratio for a scrumptious piece of meat. Calories are on leave today, so don't worry!

Let us show you the menu so you know what to order. The broth comes in 3 choices, Shio (salt) Shoyu (soy sauce) and Miso (fermented soy beans). Shio (salt) is the signature ramen of Santouka and our favorite as it explicitly delivers the original taste of the pork bone broth. Miso is our second favorite and Shoyu is less desirable, they both mask the original taste of the broth. Your mileage may vary though, so order all 3 of them to try if you are there for the first time (like what we did a few years ago) . The cost is definitely pricier than any other ramen but it is well worth the money.

Santouka Ramen currently ranks top of the mountain for us. We have been constantly searching for something to challenge it's throne but all have come and all have fallen.

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